ES session journal
S&P 500 futures, session by session: news recap, macro events and heatmap reads.
October 2026
November 2026 →S&P 500 order flow, every trading day
The ES is the E-mini S&P 500 future (CME), one of the most liquid futures contracts in the world, alongside the MES (Micro) for smaller sizes. Its order book is thick and it moves more steadily than the Nasdaq: absorption, liquidity walls and imbalances read clearly on the heatmap and the footprint. One session is decoded here every trading day, on watermarked DeepCharts screenshots.
Key moments of the ES session (New York time)
S&P 500 futures trade nearly 24/7 on the CME, but the flow concentrates at the Wall Street cash open at 9:30 am ET, around the 8:30 am and 10 am macro releases, and in the final hour before the close (3 pm to 4 pm ET). The journal follows those windows, where reading the book is most reliable.
SPX options, gamma and S&P 500 futures
The S&P 500 carries the largest options market in the world, with daily expirations (0DTE). Market makers hedge their positions on the future, which creates levels that pull or push price: call wall, put wall, gamma flip. Reading that positioning next to the order flow explains many range days and breakouts.
Frequently asked questions
What time does the ES (S&P 500 futures) open?
The E-mini S&P 500 future trades nearly 24/7 on the CME (Sunday 6 pm to Friday 5 pm ET, with a one-hour daily break). The most active moment is the Wall Street cash open at 9:30 am ET, followed by the final hour before the close.
What is the difference between ES and MES?
Same underlying (S&P 500), but the MES (Micro) is one tenth of the ES: $5 per point versus $50. The Micro lets you trade the exact same order-flow read with ten times less risk per point.
ES or NQ: which one to trade with order flow?
The NQ moves faster and further, the ES moves slower with a thicker book. On the ES, large orders sit longer on the DOM and absorption shows better on the heatmap; on the NQ you have to read faster. The journal covers both, so you can compare how they read.
Does SPX options GEX help trade the ES?
Yes: market makers hedge SPX options through the ES future. Positive GEX tends to hold price between the call wall and the put wall, negative GEX tends to amplify moves. DeepGamma shows those levels in the same chart as the order flow.
Can you trade the ES with order flow on a funded account?
Yes. The ES is offered by almost every futures prop firm. Phidias, for example, includes DeepCharts in its dashboard, the very tool used in these sessions, with nothing to install, from the evaluation onward.
The SPX options levels mentioned in these sessions come from DeepGamma, the GEX read from Cboe participant data, displayed in the same chart as the order flow.